Appointment of four members to the Civil Justice Council

The Lord Chancellor has appointed Dr Natalie Byrom, Kate Pasfield, John Sorabji, and James Walker as members of the Civil Justice Council for three years from 1 August 2022 to 31 July 2025.

The CJC is a statutory advisory body established by the Civil Procedure Act 97.

The CJC brings together members of the judiciary, civil servants, legal professionals and others representative of the varied perspectives, sectoral interests, specialist and professional expertise found across the civil justice system.

The CJC has a statutory role in keeping the civil justice system under review. It advises the judiciary, government, and rule makers on the development of the civil justice system, especially how it can be more accessible, fair and efficient. It is empowered to make proposals for change and propose and undertake research.

Biographies:

Dr Natalie Byrom – Information Architecture and Econometrics CJC Member

Dr Natalie Byrom is Director of Research at The Legal Education Foundation and founding Director of their Justice Lab initiative. She sits on the Administrative Justice Council as a member of the steering group and is data advisor to the President of the Family Division’s Transparency Implementation Group. Between 2018 and 2020 she served as an Expert Advisor on Open Data to Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service, where she made a series of recommendations to improve data collection, architecture and governance in the context of the ongoing programme of digital court reform.

Kate Pasfield – Other areas of expertise relevant to civil justice CJC Member

Kate Pasfield is Director of Legal Aid Policy and Member Services for the Legal Aid Practitioners Group. She previously spent 17 years in private practice and the not-for-profit sector as a legal aid solicitor specialising in housing and community care work.

John Sorabji - Barrister Role CJC Member

Dr John Sorabji is a barrister at Nine St John Street Chambers and an associate professor within the law faculty at University College London (UCL). In 2021 he was appointed Legal Adviser to the Independent Review of the Human Rights Act. He has previously advised the Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls and other senior members of the judiciary on various legal and constitutional matters. He is General Editor of The White Book.

James Walker - Small and medium size enterprises (SME) CJC Member

James Walker is Chief Executive of Rightly, an organisation which helps consumers manage and own their data footprint. He is also the founder and Chief Executive of JamDoughnut, an an App that assists consumers to save money. James is also a Non-Executive of Consumer Scotland. He is a Non-Executive Director advising the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman and the Collaboration Network and sits on the Consumer Panels for the Office of Road and Rail and the Civil Aviation Authority. He formally founded and grew Resolver, a free consumer tool to assist consumers in resolving complaints and disputes and built an online dispute resolution platform